Area Restaurant Leadership

Texas Roadhouse volunteers time 

The Texas Roadhouse staff has once again gone out and put forth their time for a charitable cause.  From sorting and moving commodities at Second Harvest on multiple occasions, to raising thousands of dollars for Take a Bite Out of Hunger, building homes for Habitats for Humanity, aiding in Youth Baseball sponsorship, creating a donation drive at a domestic violence shelter, and many other events, this group of charitable volunteers show up in great numbers with enthusiasm and reliability.

Do you have a charitable event you would like them to participate in?  Crystal Carter, a manager at the Texas Roadhouse, says that individual members of the volunteer team have put forward nearly forty hours each in service to their community, and some volunteers come from the greater Tri-Cities family.  If you would like to be notified when the next charitable event occurs so you too can take part (events tend to be every other week or so) please contact Crystal at 509-783-1288.

Yours in Red White and True,

Uncle James

Pasco wants YOU!

YOU can make a difference in your neighborhood!
Did you know?
YOUR neighborhood, in the city of Pasco, has a unique political structure ratified ONLY by the state you live in!

It's true.Washington state residents have the privilege of living in a state which nurtures grassroots style politics, meaning YOU can easily step up, and be an actual voice in the law making process you are already part of.
Really?
Do you know that EVERY neighborhood in Pasco, WA, is entitled to it's very own representative?

I've never heard that.Nobody knows it, but it's TRUE.

Who can represent?
Any Washington State registered voter.

That can't be right, I'M a registered voter!
Then you qualify. Are YOU the ONE? The lone voice in your neighborhood who will stand up and be heard?

That sounds like a hard job.If you can listen to your family, your neighbors, your friends and co-workers and then go before the collected representatives from around you and say:


"This is what my people want to see happen."

then Pasco needs YOU, to stand up and represent.

The deadline is near!
Every neighborhood in Pasco, especially YOURS, should be represented!


Do YOU feel like your voice is being heard by policy makers?

Do YOU feel like the people who make the laws might not have your best interests at heart?

If you feel the same as the average American citizen, then probably not.

Why wouldn't YOU want to affect
the policies which affect your block?
____________________________________________________________________________________________

What is this unique position?
 Washington State law calls for citizens of every neighborhood, or precinct, to have a single representative to go before the county with the opinions, desires, and expectations of their neighbors and loved ones, and say "This is what we want to see." 
What is expected of this person? 
This representative, the " Precinct Committee Officer " or " PCO " for short, must have an interest in local and national affairs. They should be able to meet with PCOs from neighboring precincts (distinguished individuals such as "that guy from across Burden Blvd." or "that lady from over by Court St.") and speak their mind.
 What precinct am I the boss of, I mean, representative of?Pasco is divided in to about seventy different neighborhoods, depending on population numbers. You can find a very detailed map on this site just above, under the name "Local Precincts."

How do I sign up?You must go to the Franklin County Courthouse on Fourth Street before candidate filing closes on  May 18, 2012,  and get a form from the county auditor. You do have to fill it out. You must be a registered voter for the party you would like to represent in your neighborhood... incidentally, you CAN register with the county auditor on the same trip!

Oh, man, that sounds hard. Why can't my county be hip and use the internet like it's supposed to be used?Now we DO!  You can file your candidacy online. See the link "Become a PCO!" above for a special message from your elected auditor. You can also use this link to apply: https://wei.sos.wa.gov/county/franklin/en/Elections/olf/Pages/OnlineCandidateFilingStart.aspx

You will also want to check out these supplemental materials:

https://wei.sos.wa.gov/county/franklin/en/Elections/CandidateInfo/Pages/FilingForLocalElectiveOffice.aspx

Does it cost anything?Yes. It will cost you one dollar.
Okay. Why? I though only REAL politicians had to pay to run for office.That is the exact reason.  It is a form of office.  You are only obligated to your neighbors, but you can still make some fantastic business cards for yourself.  Plus, if you are not the only cool person in your neighborhood, other people will have to vote you in.  But I know you'll win, because you're the best.
Do I get paid?Nope.  Neither do the representatives who've been around for years.  This is an opportunity to speak out... not an obligation to anything except to your values.Why me?Because YOU are the best, and your neighborhood NEEDS YOU!
How can I tell my friends about this?   It sounds fantastic.
Check out the link up above, "Give a PCO card".


Can I have some small print please?
Ok.

A Precinct Committee Officer, or PCO, is the name for an office in the state of Washington that organizes a voting precinct for a political party. The PCO is the most grass-roots offices available. The PCO brings to the party organizations the concerns of the voters, and of the neighborhood. Conversely, the PCO provides a link between the voter and the legislative district and county organizations, disseminating information and providing assistance where needed to the voters of the precinct.


Eligibility and terms: A person wishing to run for PCO must pay a dollar fee, and file his or her declaration of candidacy with their county auditor for a specific party. The candidate must be a registered member of the party he or she is running for, and must live in that precinct. By State law (RCW 29A.80.51) to be declared elected, the separate party candidates for these offices must receive at least 10% of the number of votes cast for the candidate of his/her party that received the greatest number of votes in that precinct. PCOs are elected for two-year terms commencing first day of December following the primary.

Duties: Informing your precinct (your friends and family) of your party's candidates, registering new voters (meeting new friends), identifying party members (your buddy from that party last Saturday), recommending poll workers (your friends who owe you money), "get out the vote" campaigns (needing new friends suddenly), holding/leading a precinct caucus every spring of a presidential election year (throwing a bbq at your aunt's house), attending legislative district party meetings (going to meetings once a month or so and speaking out).

The Costs Of TSA

A Closer Look at the Weight on our Shoulders

Internet savvy legal education preparation course provider www.onlinecriminaljusticedegree.com has provided me with a graphic created by his criminal justice education preparation team. 

Created by the team at : OnlineCriminalJusticeDegree.com

I want to thank Tony Shin for alerting me that they had made this and allowing me to share it with you.  In the past I have written such pieces as this one about body scanners discussing early abuses of the system, and this piece covering Michael Chertoff  replacing the more productive and already produced air-puffer or sniffer machines with the scanners for personal gain.  Each of those articles has a number of links to news stories.

Since I started writing this, a TSA agent assaulted an armed pilot.  That wasn't even intentional.

Yours in Red White and True,

Uncle James

Rick Santorum Visit

3-1-12  The Day Rick Santorum Came to Town

A few Thursdays ago, FCRP Chairman Curt Mohr and Benton Chairman Patrick McBurney took the stage to welcome attendees to one of three Presidential Candidates' visits which we received in the Tri-Cities.  This event took place in one of the larger rooms in the Tri Cities at the Red Lion in Pasco.

Following the chairmen, Mayor Pro Tem Sharon Brown of Kennewick, a member of the steering committee National League of Cities and corporate lawyer took the stage to follow up with thanks and a warm introduction for Rick Santorum. 

Rick Santorum took the stage, complete with the requisite applause and cheers.  His careful smile starts up, and he begins to speak about his basic ideal based views and an overview of his campaign successes.  Standing up for values in tough districts is a goal of his, he informs us, and breaking up the "establishment" and the old boy's network.  We are informed that an old boy's network rewrote the rules in Michigan, Romney's state, during a recent Primary.   After all, that's what old boy's networks do, right?

Going into some definitions, Mr. Santorum elaborates that he believes that the characteristics which set apart conservatives are that conservatives "like and respect the rules".  There was a dig about being unfamiliar to the rules with some of the younger Democrats.

Rick's speech turned towards the exposure of corruption in Washington D.C. including an overview of the "Gang of 7" which he is considered a member of, and a discussion of their exposure of the Post Office scandal in the 90's, in which members of the House were found guilty of money laundering by stamp purchases in conjunction with Federal Postal employees.  The Postmaster involved got the book thrown at him; one of the Representatives was later pardoned by Clinton five years after the scandal while the other just had to walk away from a public life. 

The Gang of 7 are Republican representatives who were elected in 1990.  They harshly criticized the House banking and Congressional Post Office scandals.  John Boehner is another member.

Rick Santorum espouses that you must stand on principles, stating that the opposition views individualism as wrong, and asks the question which defines the political struggles of the entire nation right now:  "What kind of country do you want to live in?"  The speech continued on to discuss the founding principles of the United States, and a brief acknowledgement of the Tea Party's involvement in keeping those principles alive. 

He touched on France's short lived version of  their own Constitution of rights for a people which followed ours, stating it did not work because the secular nature of it imbued it with a institutional nature which says "You have rights because we gave them to you" which I agree is ultimately self defeating. 

Rick Santorum makes a good segway to the "Great Society" overview, in which the power is top down, the rulers care deeply about your well being, they give special rights to certain groups, government benefits to some or many, and of course never quite manage to return to the public all the material goods they take for redistribution.  He says at this point that Margaret Thatcher had stated that the British National Healthcare plan was what stopped her from being a success in her endeavors.

When the speech turned towards concepts of good and evil, the requisite right to life and traditional marriage conservation themes, and the bad idea of having a child out of wedlock, a heckler in the crowd shouted, "What about equality!?"  Santorum kept talking over the crowd's discontentment with that, and I was surprised that the man let it go so quickly.

Jobs, factories, energy, an energy plan, the infamous pipeline in North Dakota all have a moment of spotlighting.

Mr. Santorum goes on to briefly mention corporate taxes, income taxes, jokes about fortune.  There was a little numerical faux pas about 1776 which received a bit of laughter.  He brought up his "miracle daughter" who is his 7th child, and whose gestation doctors wanted to halt as a single statement nod to the abortion issue.

Overall, the segues between topical issues were well scripted and the audience was extremely well excited to hear it.  The energy of the speech was strong, while I was not a fan of the delivery in person because I felt he sounded rehearsed and disingenuous, upon review I am pleased to find that it  it was a well coordinated presentation and a concise overview of practically all of Santorum's views, beliefs and politics.  Isn't that the goal of these events?

At the conclusion of the speech, Rick reminded the audience that the caucuses were coming soon, and asked the audience to bring more voters to the gathering since there is not a primary in Washington State this year.  From across the room a familiar bearded man jumped up and said "We'll bring 'em, Rick!" and the crowd exploded in cheers as he departed the stage.

Afterwards, I shook hands with him and told him that I write this public blog.  There was a question which I had intended to ask Dr. Ron Paul, and I had promised an FCRP regular reader that if given the chance I would ask the same question of any other candidates if the opportunity presented itself.  The question went, "If you were to address a young liberal demographic, what approach would you take to beginning a real discussion about the differences between individual liberties and social rights?"

Slightly paraphrased, his response was that he would go to the founding documents, which he said is always his first place to use as a starting point, and to point out that Hinduism and Islam do not have the same concepts of individual freedom which come from Judeo-Christian values. 

Okay, I'll accept that answer.  It was rapid, with little time to structure that thought, and is basically in line with his overall views and philosophy in general.  It's not the sort of question that people give candidates usually, beyond the taboo nature of being cross-cultural (and to be fair, the question was really specific to another candidate's overall mindset) but it clearly resounds with Rick's philosophies.  I rather think it might spark an argument rather than begin a clear dialogue with the intent of building a bridge, but it did demonstrate a swift focus.

There is only one other candidate for President besides Mr. Santorum and Dr. Paul whom I had the opportunity to "meet".  Should I tell that story too, despite it being an old election?  Let me know at crazyunclejames@gmail.com

Yours in Red, White, and True,

Uncle James

The Presidential Caucuses are Coming

Concerning the March 3rd joint caucuses. 

Hello, everyone.  It's we talk about our preferences for which candidate we want to put forward as our Presidential Pick for 2012.

It's time for the caucuses.

There are no presidential primaries in the State of Washington this year.  If you want to be involved with selecting a presidential candidate for your party of choice, you will need to attend a caucus.  The caucus for our party will be held in three locations, on one day only.

Saturday, March 3rd at 9:30 am the local Republican caucuses will be at these three locations, Chiawana High School, Basin City Elementary, and Connell Fire Hall.  You MUST attend the caucus for your precinct.  Instructions to find out which precinct you live in follow below, and you may find our maps here. 

precincts   1 - 73 
precincts 99 - 101
Chiawana High School

precincts 74 - 82
precincts 85 - 87
Basin City Elementary

precincts 83, 84
precincts 88 - 98
Connell Fire Hall

If you are unsure of your precinct number after consulting our maps in the above link, the Franklin County Auditor’s office can provide you the information IF you are properly registered to vote.  The telephone number is 545-3538.

The Auditor's office will be closed on the day of the caucus, a Saturday.

There is another great resource out there for voters to look themselves up over the internet either at home or at your caucus locations. It’s called My Vote and you can access it this way:

Go to www.vote.wa.gov and click on the My Vote logo:

From here, a voter logs in. They will see their personalized voting information and a menu on the left. Click on "my districts" and "elected officials" to see precinct information.

There is a lot of other great information there such as drop box locations, ballot status and even a way to get a replacement ballot to print and return so this is a page voters should keep for future reference.

To participate in the caucus for your precinct you must be a registered voter.  Your name will be checked against those listed on excel spreadsheets furnished by the Franklin County Auditor’s Office.  Names will be checked at the entrances to the joint caucus locations.

There are special rules for some newly registered voters.  The names of persons who registered online or by mail after January 16, 2012 or registered in person at the Auditor’s office after February 6th, 2012 will NOT be listed on the spreadsheets.  Those newly registered voters, however, may still participate if prior to the coming to the caucus they go to the Auditor’s office at the Franklin County Courthouse and obtain a certified copy of their original registration form and have it available at check in.

Have I caused more questions which you need answered?  Ah, just call the auditors!  I learn as I go!

Yours in Red White and True,

Uncle James

Ron Paul Visit

2-17-2012, The Day Dr. Ron Paul Came to Town

Ron Paul came to Richland the other day, and the fire marshal made most of the attendees leave.

Too many people.

I've seen Presidential Candidates in person before, a handful of times, so I knew to get there early.  When I went to see Candidate Obama in 08 when I still lived in Portland, I think the attendance was larger than the census of Richland.  People began showing up at 6am for the 1pm event, so showing up an hour and a half for Ron Paul was easy.

Clint Didier opened up for Dr. Paul, and though he always has a good head of steam when he steps on stage, this time he was in rare form even compared to normal.

Picture by local citizen Karen

Then Ron Paul took the stage.  He discussed common themes such as liberty, and how liberty does not mean going back to prior episodes in our country, is not "regressive" as some like to say.  Why, progressives are not the only ones who use that term to attack the concept of liberty, of choosing to live your life as you want, run it as you choose.  Establishment conservatives do also.  He went on to explain that the concept of liberty, of self-actualization, was lost around 100 years ago.  If there is peace in the land, there is also prosperity.

Picture by local citizen Karen

Those who know the core tenets of what my young liberal friends like to call my "Birchy" understanding of history (I wouldn't use that term for myself, but hey! whatever alludes to accuracy, I don't think I like the Birchy clan that much) in the crowd all started nodding as he went on to give a brief overview of 1913's "Great Big Year of Change" when we created our first permanent central bank (which the founders warned warned warned about)  and also created the income tax (because if we were going to be creating massive debt spirals for all time forward, we had to back it up with the sweat of our brows).  This was when Americans were pushed into laboring (in vain, clearly) to pay back the system of debt which has led to us now giving away our land to Chinese government interests to build their own manufacturing cities here.  That's me saying that, not Ron Paul.  

Pictures by local citizen Karen

He also brushed over 1971's removal of the government constraints on borrowing ("The hole we're standing in isn't deep enough!") which refers to the end of the gold standard.

Dr. Ron Paul also reiterated the understanding that Depression did not end after WWII, that it slowly continued, we just built a lot during that time but going forward from that point we began having some of the worst poverty and helplessness we had seen to that time here in America.  The speech went on about how the government is not supposed to be able to create money, and was not supposed to have the authority to create central banks, commonly held beliefs for his fans.  

Paul suggested that he is the only candidate in 30 years who has sworn to actually cut spending, implying that it has never been a broken promise from others, which I would debate.  Perhaps I misunderstood and he is suggesting he is the only one to mean it, or perhaps he is "on the head" and nobody else running for President has had the temerity to suggest that and it would just boggle the mind.  Who can say?

Picture by local citizen Karen

 Picture by local citizen Derek Mallory

 Picture by local citizen Derek Mallory

Picture by local citizen Derek Mallory

He went on to discuss that the government as a structure of economic distribution cannot invest, and cannot create prosperity, it can only pick up and bail out.  That his first year as President he would cut five departments immediately.  That he would counteract the "Repeal the 4th Amendment Act" which is what he called the Patriot Act, and frankly while I've never heard that one I sure thought it sounded more appropriate.  That the TSA should not be able to do anything without a warrant and that he would make it a point to be sure they knew that.  As you can tell by these posts  which I posted  in the past, it's obvious  I happen to agree.

The above video was composited from audio, video, and photos 

by J. James McFarland.  The very nice photos of Dr. Ron Paul from right up front and close 

are all from VIP Campaign 4 Liberty member and former Chairman FCRP Tom Cornell.

Ron Paul said that in the 1990's there was a stated, explicit, written down goal within Washington, and that was to bog down the economy in wars.  World War 2 only lasted 4 years between Congress declaring war (as opposed to us being "mandated" by the U.N.) and we drafted and prepared openly to be sure we were actually prepared.  That reminds me of this clip from Wesley Clark.

He discussed briefly the National Defense Authorization Act, arguably the most neoconservative punch of President Obama yet.  This makes permanent the power of the military to police American citizens and to remove the power of the citizen to have an appeal to imprisonment.  He was bothered by the uselessness and expense of the War On Drugs, which he didn't actually mention is the root cause of the arms shipments into Mexico, being used to make a boogie-man of the 2nd Amendment.  He is very very worried about prescription drugs, which hits me on a personal level considering family members.  I've written about it for my own reasons, not related to being the webmaster of the Franklin County Republican Party.  You can read it here.

Dr. Ron Paul is upset by the tendency of all government to forcibly steal and redistribute savings and wealth.  He is excited that young economists are beginning to question what they are being taught about economics, and that Austrian Economics are being discussed by name.

He was excited to tell people that "Freedom Brings Diversity Together" which I have never heard before, but understand.  When people are allowed to be themselves and accepted as such, there is less social abrasion.  I've known that for a long time, but it is perhaps the first time I ever heard it put into words.

It was interesting to be included in the media pool.  Of course if the committee would requisition a digital recording microphone in the future for their webmaster, that would be a good investment.  I was in there with my cell phone camera and recording audio to our hotline voicemail, shoulder to shoulder with some guy from the New York Times.  

At one point during the event, Brandie Didier said to me, "I hope he wins the caucus!"  And I had to agree.

The Franklin County Republican Party has not endorsed a Presidential candidate.  This is an event write up.  I'd cover 'em all folks, but I have to work a real job too.  Several of them.  This is a purely volunteer thing that I do here.  If I can make it to an event for someone I feel less glowy about, be assured I'll put as much excitement in it as this piece.  I'll even ask them the same question I wanted to ask Dr. Paul but I don't know if any of them would "get" it. 

Please plan to be at the caucuses on Saturday, March 3rd at 9:30 am.  Read the details on that above.  Today I pushed down this article, and boosted the caucus post, due to issues of relevancy.  If I write anybody else up, I'm gonna push that article down too.

Thanks to everyone who contributed media for this write-up of this event!  We live in a region of great talent and diversity. 

Yours in Red White and True,

Uncle James

PCO's Choices

Presidential Endorsements Page for PCOs

We want to know who you went to see on the campaign trail, why you endorse them (or why you most certainly do not!) and who you're going to caucus for. 

Remember, there's five people running, so be well rounded!

Click here or on the tab above which seems relevant to the discussion!  Please submit your written opinion and we'll put it on a page all by itself!

Thanks, 

Uncle James, webmaster

crazyunclejames@gmail.com

Lincoln Day Dinner Photos

Memories of Lincoln Day Dinner 2012

A really funny thing just happened to me.

It's gray out in the sky, and the monitor was the only real source of light, still waking up and sitting down to look at all of the 300+ awesome photographs of the Lincoln Day Dinner from Saturday night.  

Two nights ago, I watched a civil war documentary, and they had footage of an archive keeper holding this dusty old stovepipe hat, falling apart all over itself.  It was the hat of Abraham Lincoln.  

So this gray old tired morning, I was looking over the photos taken by most awesome local photographer Florentino Gutierrez, and this one picture stands out to me as my eyes adjust.  And out loud to my dog and the air, and nobody else, I exclaim, "Gosh, that was the real hat, too, I wish people knew that because I don't think anybody realized it."

 . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . ,.-‘”. . . . . . . . . .``~.,
. . . . . . . .. . . . . .,.-”. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .“-.,
. . . . .. . . . . . ..,/. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ”:,
. . . . . . . .. .,?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .\,
. . . . . . . . . /. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ,}
. . . . . . . . ./. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ,:`^`.}
. . . . . . . ./. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ,:”. . . ./
. . . . . . .?. . . __. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . :`. . . ./
. . . . . . . /__.(. . .“~-,_. . . . . . . . . . . . . . ,:`. . . .. ./
. . . . . . /(_. . ”~,_. . . ..“~,_. . . . . . . . . .,:`. . . . _/
. . . .. .{.._$;_. . .”=,_. . . .“-,_. . . ,.-~-,}, .~”; /. .. .}
. . .. . .((. . .*~_. . . .”=-._. . .“;,,./`. . /” . . . ./. .. ../
. . . .. . .\`~,. . ..“~.,. . . . . . . . . ..`. . .}. . . . . . ../
. . . . . .(. ..`=-,,. . . .`. . . . . . . . . . . ..(. . . ;_,,-”
. . . . . ../.`~,. . ..`-.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..\. . /\
. . . . . . \`~.*-,. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..|,./.....\,__
,,_. . . . . }.---;-._\. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .|. . . . . . ..`=~-,
. .. `=~-,_\_. . . `\,. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .\
. . . . . . . . . .`=~-,,.\,. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .\
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . `:,, . . . . . . . . . . . . . `\. . . . . . ..__
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .`=-,. . . . . . . . . .,//---;--

How cool is that?  Somebody sat down and made a hat out of paper just for this evening.  I don't even know who it is.  That's great, this evening was full of little anonymous art touches.

Some of the "just desserts" we had comin' our way.

The Pre Dinner Panel:

Clint Dider speaks with special guests Michael Reitz and Stephen Pidgeon.

Stephen Pidgeon is running for Attorney General and was one of our special speakers, both for the Pre-Dinner Panel and the dinner itself.

Shahram Hadian running for Governor.  Hadian also was one of our special speakers, both for the Pre-Dinner Panel and the dinner itself.  If you click the tab at the top of the screen called Lincoln Day Dinneer you may read his full biography.  Michael Reitz, our special guest from the Freedom Foundation sits beside him.  Also pictured is Bill Glen, who took care of our recording and equipment needs.  Thanks for your hard work, Bill, it worked out great!

Clint Didier, our Panel Moderator, pictured closest.

Bill Bryant, running for US Senate, is pictured with Michael Reitz here.

John Talbott, and a wonderful woman from Spokane Cindy Zapotocky.  John is very forthright, and honest, and he will give you hell if you argue with him about anything but the most carefully considered of social issues.

Articulate and quick Dave Nylander and wife Joann, our Guest Auctioneer.  He's a pretty funny guy, and I think he can relate to my opening story too!

Brandie Didier and Curt Mohr, Vice-Chair and Chairman respectively:

 Local firebrand and radio personality Mary Ruth Edwards, who knows what it a trial it is to be interviewed by me!  She was gracious enough to interview for our forumboards back when we still operated them, and is one of my favorite conversationalists in the area.  Mary Ruth operates the online radio podcast at www.blogtalkradio.com/constitutionnwreport and is a real nice and bright gal.  Barbara Storms, also pictured, is one of the central motivators and representatives of the Tri - Cities Tea Party, which is not affiliated with the Franklin County Republican Party, but which has many friendly ties. 

Color guard presenting the flag of the State of Washington. 

Color guard practiced on stage for what seemed like a very long time before the event began, and the room quietly filled up with people watching because it was so professional and momentous.  The actual color guard moment on stage was pretty rapid, but superb.

 

 

    Pledge of Allegiance:

Table of door prizes for participants.

Guest Speaker Doc Hastings.

TRAC General Manager Troy Woody overseeing the procession of events and the enjoyable dinner speaking with J. James McFarland.

A third of the room, with the main entree served.

The dinner itself:

Broiled Top Sirloin Steak

Broiled over Open Flames and Paired with a

Bleu Cheese sauce and Roasted Anna Potatoes.

Southwestern Chicken Cordon Bleu

Lightly Breaded Chicken Stuffed with Mild

Anaheim Chilies and Pepper Jack Cheese,

Roasted Anna Potatoes.

Vegetable Wellington

Flaky Puff Pasty Stuffed with Ricotta Cheese,

Mushrooms, Zucchini, Thin Sliced Leeks, and

Baked Golden, Drizzled with Hollandaise.

Door prize awards begin.

Les Storms knows what prize HE wants right away.  Congratulations!

Gubernatorial candidate Shadram Hadian's table.  

Local man about town Dustin Dobson with wife.

The Lincoln Day Dinner brought a large young crowd.

Ed Barron's artwork.  This is just one of many pieces available this evening as prizes or for auction.

Chairman Curt Mohr, always eager to explain something to a captive audience.

Gentleman and scholar Fred Nimmo with wife Winene:

Ed and Jan Barron:  Ed made the great metal sculptural work pictured earlier in this post.

Cindy Zapotocky with Dani Boylard:

Mike Reitz:

Stephen Pidgeon:

The very focused audience was entranced:

Tri-Cities Tea Party organizer Jerry Martin with Constitution Party head Mary Ruth Edwards:

Gubernatorial Candidate Hadian:

The Chairman's table:

Doc Hastings with Clint Didier:

The lovely Claudia Talbott:

Local FCRP participant Greg Beeler:

Fair Tax advocate Jamie Wheeler:

Councilman Al Yenney:

The official invitation to the event alongside the original art which was created as the basis for the theme of the night "Railsplitter," which was intended to be discussed as complimentary to the theme of Agenda 21, and how we must be loud and powerful in our confrontation with rigid unbending foes.  It is a philosophical clash and you must use sound principles and real true data in the fight.

The theme of the Railsplitter, as I see it, is that theme which evokes the struggle of John Henry versus the Steam Engine.  Railsplitter versus the Agenda.  Beams are being erected to keep you from your freedoms in some of the most fundamental way.  Shatter those beams with reality, but temper your speech with the truth. 

____________________________________________________________________________

Of course, there was more to it than that!

I will continue updating this post as the day progresses, so be sure to read it again tonight to stay up to date on the stories from the Lincoln Day Dinner.  I want to hear your story, send it to me at crazyunclejames@gmail.com.  Also, let your friends know to tell us, also!  I will only be taking stories for 24 hours ending at 9 am on February 17th.

Remember, keep 'em brief!  

Yours in Red, White, and True,

Uncle James